Furukawa Electric Doubles Dicing Die Bonding Film Output

Furukawa Electric announced on Thursday the firm doubled output capacity of dicing die bonding film (DDF) to 2 million square meters per month, which is used for a manufacturing process of stacked multi-chip packages (stacked MCPs). The firm started operations of new productive equipment for DDF at Mie works, Mie, Japan this month with capacity at 1 million square meters per month. Furukawa Electric now produces DDF at Hiratsuka works, Kanagawa, Japan and Mie works. The investment was 320 million yen.DDF consists of die attaching film (DAF) and die casting tape (DC tape). DAF bonds semiconductor chips while DC tape settles silicon wafers during dicing and grinding. Furukawa Electric purchases DAF from Hitachi Chemical and laminates DAF with Furukawa Electric’s DC tape at Hiratsuka and Mie works. Hitachi Chemical sells completed DDF.Furukawa Electric has expanded output capacity of DC tape at Mie works. In January 2008, a new plant for DC tape completed and started operation inside Mie works, which was constructed with investment at 3.2 billion yen. The firm also introduced production and inspection equipment for DDF inside the new plant with another investment at 320 million yen.Demand for DDF has rapidly expanded worldwide especially from flash memories. Furukawa Electric estimates global DDF market was approximately 17 billion yen in fiscal 2007 ended March 2008, increasing by more than 40% year-on-year. The firm expects 30% yearly growth in fiscal 2008. Hitachi Chemical’s DDF holds 70-75% global market shares.